Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.
Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.
In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.
(Goodreads)
So when I read the premise I knew exactly what I was going to read. I just didn't expect it to flop as hard as it did. I know, I know that the new fad in writing is princesses taking back their kingdom, being badass, falling in love with someone they shouldn't. The typical story right now. But this one was just an absolute disappointment. The idea of using vanity was interesting, until it became too much. For a good chunk of the book all they would talk about was beauty. The worth of the females because of their beauty. The shame that Nor had but a small scar because she saved her sister from drowning. And yet all they could focus on was her supposed jealousy because Zadie was more beautiful and pure and blah blah blah.
I get it, the author wanted to be different to all the other books that all share the same premise. But her use of beauty in this book honestly was not a wise choice. If she had possibly written the book better, maybe I would have liked it more. But it just fell flat.
It was shallow and the plot honestly didn't do much. Nothing really changed when Nor took Zadie's place. And that whole exchange and the events that happened were ridiculous. God I could barely read it, the shallowness of the village was incredible. Lets talk about Zadie for a second here, because literally this whole thing started because of her selfishness. Like I get it, she loves her boo, it's sweet and cute. But to literally get angry and jealous because her twin is being FORCED TO MARRY SAID BOO, AGAINST HER WILL. BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS SAID SO and ignore her sister, was honestly so petty and shallow I was almost done with the whole book there...
But then it gets worse because stupid sister forces Nor to brutalize her body to make her ugly and undesirable to stay with the love of her life
And thus the village turns on them and its all supposed to be sad and important, but really it was just vain and shallow with no lasting impact.
The rest of the book is mediocre and really nothing important happens, she meets her new soon to be husband. The beach girl now lives in a mountain away from the light, people are plotting murder, she falls in love with the prince's half brother. You know, the usual 🤷
Overall, the book is severely underwhelming and nothing of importance happens in the book to make it stand out against the others of its kind. I felt like it was doomed from the start because of how beauty focused it is, it just made the rest of the plot very shallow and lacking of real depth.
But if you liked it, awesome! Personally not my favorite, and I will not be reading the next one.
Until next time readers <3
Love Kat
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